Freedom after Neoliberalism

Organisers: Adam Kelly, English and Related Literature and Alex Beaumont, York St John

Over the last three decades, the rise of the socio-political formation widely referred to as neoliberalism has seen a particular model of freedom – the freedom of free markets, property rights and entrepreneurial self-ownership – gain prominence in a variety of ways around the globe.

More recently, there has been a surge in critical activity around neoliberalism, which has led to the emergence of an increasingly settled understanding of its political, economic and cultural mechanics. Most critiques, however – whether undertaken from a Marxist, Foucauldian, or sociological-historical perspective – have proven reluctant to engage neoliberalism on the territory that it has so conspicuously made its own: namely, freedom.

This project aims to rethink, re-evaluate and perhaps renovate the many meanings of freedom beyond its limited economic function in neoliberal theory and practice, and to imagine what freedom might look like in a world beyond neoliberalism.

You can find more details about this research strand, including forthcoming speaker events and a schedule for the Freedom After Neoliberalism reading group, at the project website: